Celebrate Audiobook Month with EveryLibrary Live and Me, Plus the Audio Publishers Association's Annual Survey Data

June is Audiobook month and to celebrate, EveryLibrary has a fun slate of live interviews with the voices, authors, and producers behind some of the hottest audiobooks of the moment, with me as one of the interviewers.

But before we get to that exciting, free, live and on demand going on next week, first, I want to draw your attention to the annual survey and press release put out by the Audio Publishers Association every June.  From the public page:

THE AUDIO PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION ANNUAL SURVEYS SHOW AUDIOBOOK SALES JUMP 9% TO $2.43 BILLION

58% of Americans age 18+ have listened to an audiobook - an estimated 157 million people

June 5, 2026, New York, NY – The Audio Publishers Association Sales Survey, conducted by Toluna, shows audiobook sales revenue continuing to grow, reaching $2.43 billion in 2025, 9% over the previous year. Publishers reported over 750,000 active titles in 2025, a 43% increase from 2024.

The Audio Publishers Association 2026 Consumer Survey, conducted by Edison Research at SSRS, adds that among audiobook listeners, 63% listened in the last year and 35% in the last month. Audiobook Listeners averaged 3.8 audiobooks in the last year, and 26% listened to four or more titles in the last year. 

Piracy is a growing concern, and the Audio Publishers Association is actively addressing this issue through a multi-pronged approach. Edison data reports that among those who listened to audiobooks in the last year, 45% reported listening to a free copy on YouTube in the last year. This percentage is up from 38% in 2025 (many audiobooks on YouTube are pirated from legitimate copyright holders).

Key Findings: 

• Audiobooks are valued for being convenient, relaxing, and easy to enjoy while doing other things. Audiobook Listeners cite the ability to multitask (86%) and to listen on-the-go (84%) as the top benefits. Seven in ten enjoy audiobooks as an alternative to screen time (70%).

• Audiobook listening occurs across various platforms. Among those who listened in the last year, many used multiple sources: 49% purchased directly from websites/apps, 48% listened via a subscription service, 46% borrowed through a digital library app, and 42% used credits from a dedicated audiobook service.

• The fastest growing genres in 2025 were Humor, General Fiction and Children’s - including YA - with General Fiction accounting for the largest share of revenue (27%). Science Fiction/Fantasy, Romance, and Mysteries/Thrillers/Suspense make up the remaining top genres by revenue.

• The consumption and number of AI-narrated audiobooks published has increased in 2025, though willingness to try AI-narrated audiobooks dropped year-over-year, from 70% in 2025 to 61% in 2026. Only 16% of Audiobook Listeners have listened to an AI-voiced audiobook, and AI sales revenue amounted to .03% in 2025.

• Sales revenue from Audio First publications has increased in 2025 compared with 2024, increasing from $91.1 million to $136 million (a rise of 50%). The share of Audio First publications also increased slightly, accounting for 6% of the total net revenue in 2025.

How the APA Consumer Study Was Conducted

In February 2026, Edison Research conducted an online survey of 1,706 spoken-word audio listeners ages 18 and older to measure listening behaviors, trends in the market, and provide insightful recommendations to understand and increase audiobook consumption. Respondents were divided into two survey tracks: Audiobook Listeners: 1,020 respondents who have ever listened to an audiobook; and Spoken-Word Listeners (no audiobooks): 686 respondents who have listened to a podcast or spoken-word radio program in the last month but have never listened to an audiobook.

Access to this and additional industry data is available to APA members.

About the Audio Publishers Association

Formed in 1986, the Audio Publishers Association (APA) is a not-for-profit trade association that advocates the common, collective business interests of audio publishers. The APA serves as a networking, educational, and information forum for its members; delivers programs, services, and awards that serve the common business interests for its members; and promotes policies and activities that accelerate audiobook awareness and industry growth.

Click here for a little more of the data breakdown as well. And here for charts with 5-Year Industry Data.

As it says above, the full report is available to members, but there is still a lot here for us to learn from and use. I will crunch these numbers alongside other year end reports this winter, comparing them to what else I see in the overall book world, but for now, take a look at the findings and think about your service to your audiobook readers. Are there places you can make some changes in your service? Are their ways you can reach more of the readers where they are? Share this post and talk about it with your collections people, your service desk people, and any digital services library workers you may have.

And after you are done with that, have some fun-- you and your patrons-- all next week, courtesy of EveryLibrary. 

See below for all of the details, but here is the basics. 3x a night, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday next week, EveryLibrary is hosting conversations with the people behind some exciting audiobooks. 

On a personal note, I am over the moon that I get to do the one about turning the Choose Your Own Adventure Books into audiobooks. 

See the full info from EveryLibrary below. And remember, you can sign up to be reminded when they go live and you can send this out to your patrons to do the same for themselves. But also, ALL of the conversations EveryLibrary has hosted over the years are archived and can be seen at anytime on their YouTube page. Go to the "Live" tab. It is a great channel to have linked on your own websites and to promote for patrons as a place where they can see authors talking about their work. And since EveryLibrary invites every type of author, this is a great resource for all ages. 

I would also suggest pursuing the YouTube recordings every once in a while to see what authors they have. Then when you see one with a new book coming out, or someone popular, add the link to those videos to the catalog record for the book they are discussing, put a QR code on the stacks near that author's books for readers to discover as they browse, and add links to any reading or author lists on your website or in Libby. This is an easy way to make your RA service more interactive AND anticipate your readers' needs. Imagine, they go to the shelf to find a book by David Gutterson and there on the shelf is a QR code to an interview with him (and me).  It is as if the library knew they were interested in something and it magically made the invisible, visible for them. Literally the definition of being seen. 

We claim we aim to meet people where they are. This is an easy way to show them that that is exactly what we are trying to do.

This is the kind of content readers love but have no idea how to find and or access on their own. And just maybe, while your patrons are there watching an interview, they might follow the links to donate to the good work EveryLibrary is doing each and every day for libraries all over the country. 

See below for next week's specific live info. I will be doing the events, live every day at 5 eastern. And again, after they stream live, all interviews are archived here.

Maybe you will see me there. Or in the past via a recording. 

Audio Book Month 2026 - Stories You Hear Come to Life

Audiobook Month 2026 is coming to EveryLibrary Live! with three nights of conversations celebrating storytelling, narration, performance, and the growing cultural impact of audiobooks. 

From June 15–17, readers, listeners, librarians, and publishing professionals are invited to join live and on-demand sessions featuring bestselling authors, award-winning narrators, producers, and audiobook creators from across the industry. 

This year’s event, "Stories You Hear Come to Life", highlights the artistry and accessibility of audiobooks while celebrating the libraries that help connect readers and listeners to these stories every day. 

Featured guests include Ash Perez, John Kenney, Jane Hamilton, Helen Laser, Kelsey Impicciche, Natalie Naudus, and Soman Chainani, along with audiobook producers and special guests from leading publishing houses and audio studios, including Anne Fonteneau (Blackstone) and the Choose Your Own Adventure Audio team.

Audiobook Month 2026 is made possible through the support and participation of major publishing and audiobook partners, including Simon & Schuster, Zibby Media, HarperCollins, Blackstone Publishing, Penguin Random House, and the team behind the iconic Choose Your Own Adventure audiobooks. 

Each evening will be guest-hosted by Gigi Howard from the hit podcast "Drinks in the Library" and Becky Spratford of RA for All and author of the recently released "Why I Love Horror". Together, they bring deep readers’ advisory expertise, energy, and a passion for connecting audiences with books, authors, and audio storytelling. 

RSVP NOW to get a reminder and links each day to these exciting programs.

Event Schedule

Monday, June 15

5:00 PM EDT — Speak Now: Love, Loss, and Second Chances in Full Cast Audio

Featuring Ash Perez discussing the queer romance novel Speak Now and its immersive full-cast audiobook production featuring performers including Jena Malone and Bahni Turpin. Sponsored by Simon & Schuster. 

7:00 PM EDT — Finding Your Way: Humor, Heart, and Reinvention, Read and Heard

A conversation with John Kenney and Jane Hamilton about storytelling, reinvention, and the audiobook experience. Sponsored by Zibby Media. 

Tuesday, June 16

5:00 PM EDT — Choose Your Own Adventure Audio Experience

An interactive look at how the beloved Choose Your Own Adventure books became immersive audiobook adventures, preserving the spirit of reader choice in audio form. 

7:00 PM EDT — Behind the Mic: The Art of Audiobook Narration with Helen Laser

Award-winning narrator Helen Laser shares insights into performance, character development, and the emotional craft of narration. Sponsored by HarperCollins and audiobook publishing partners. 

9:00 PM EDT - The Future of Listening and the Enduring Role of CDs: A Conversation with Anne Fonteneau 

Blackstone CSO Anne Fonteneau will discuss the continued growth of digital listening as well as the enduring role of CDs in libraries and communities.

Wednesday, June 17

5:00 PM EDT — From Screen to Sea with Kelsey Impicciche and Natalie Naudus

Kelsey Impicciche and Natalie Naudus discuss Voice of the Ocean, romantasy storytelling, online creator culture, and bringing fantasy worlds to life through audio. Sponsored by Blackstone Publishing. 

7:00 PM EDT — Power, Youth, and Revolution: Soman Chainani on Young World

Join bestselling author Soman Chainani and Zeno Robinson, the lead narrator of the audiobook, to discuss the immersive full-cast adaptation of "Young World". 

9:00 PM EDT - Still Listening: Why Audiobook CDs Matter in Today's Libraries

We will share a conversation with Cindy Fehmel, Collection Development Librarian/AV for the St. Louis County (MO) Library, one of the nation's largest purchasers of audiobook CDs. Cindy will share insights on patron listening habits, audiobook collection development, and why CDs continue to play an important role in library service even as digital audiobook use continues to grow.

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Libraries are one of the most important pathways to audiobook discovery and access in the United States. Audiobook Month 2026 celebrates not only the creators and performers behind these works but also the public, school, and academic libraries that ensure stories remain free, inclusive, and accessible to everyone. 

Watch live on Facebook and YouTube or catch every session later on-demand. RSVP now to get a reminder sent each day and share the invite with your fellow readers and listeners. Follow along throughout the week on EveryLibrary Live! on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.  

When

June 15, 2026 at 5:00pm - June 18, 2026

Where

EveryLibrary Facebook and YouTube Live

Library People, Strap in For a Fight With the Author's Guild

As regular readers of the blog know, I have been working on a bill going through the IL legislature to stop the publishers and their predatory pricing of eBooks and eAudio for libraries. You can read here about when I went to Springfield to testify on the topic at the State House, including my written testimony.   

The Author's Guild filed with the committee we were testifying for stating they were against our bill to control prices. 

We passed 99-0 in the IL State House and since then, they have turned up the heat and have been actively releasing "data" and lobbying against our bill.

Last week I had this post about larger library groups coming together to fight back against the Author's Guild slander. Go here to read that.

Now they are upping their fight against us by trying to make it look like libraries are part of the reason why authors are not making money.

Here is the news story on the "report" they commissioned. It does not explicitly say libraries are part of their problem but it does lay the gourd world for that argument. Combined with the statements they have made formally against the bills circulating throughout various statehouse (as reported here), their intentions are clear. They are trying to throw us under the bus.

They are not protecting authors here. As you can see in my written testimony, they are protecting the publishers. Authors do NOT get more money when the publishers overcharge libraries for digital books and audiobooks. Remember I am an author as well as a librarian. I understand this issue from both sides, as I wrote about here.

I posted this on Bluesky yesterday and many authors are coming to our defense. Library workers are calling out the fact that this is all th publishers fault. I cannot keep up with my responses. Here is what I said there when I posted this link:

You all-- I never thought I'd see the day, but library peeps, strap in for a fight. The Author's Guild is going after us as the reason why authors are making less money. I don't think they understand who they are dealing with:

Also, authors (of which I am one), the Author's Guild does a lot of good generally, but they are WRONG here. They are trying to turn against us. There are over 12,000 public libraries in America and they are one of the only places reliably spending money on books every single day of the year.

Don't fall for these scare tactics. The best route toward improving our income from writing books is hand in hand with the library.

There is no call to action here for today. But this post is a warning to you all. We need to be aware that the Author's Guild is building a case against us. It has been in the shadows of state houses until now. Slowly they are laying the groundwork to throw us under the bus.  Please be on guard. 

I will keep everyone posted as well. 

Soccer Novels for World Cup Fever

The World Cup is about to begin and there are more excellent novels about soccer than you would think. In fact,  the World Cup is the perfect time to take advantage of one of my RA Basics: Promote the Books Patrons Would Not Find Without Your Help, because when we help readers find books they would never find without us, that is how we make ourselves indispensable in their lives.

The World Cup is the perfect event to prove this rule. Why? Well, first off, people who never watch soccer any other time of the year will get wrapped up in the World Cup. Putting out novels that feature the sport-- in a variety of genres-- will pique their interest. Also, with the event in North America and many cities without games still hosting watch satires in their MLS stadiums, we need to jump open the bandwagon somehow.

LitHub published a great piece today entitled, "Is This the Strangest Soccer Novel Ever Written?: TOBIAS CARROLL ON CARLOS LABBÉ'S THE MURMURATION."

From the introduction:

This piece was published in collaboration with Golden Goal, a literary magazine about the intersection of politics, culture and sport at the 2026 World Cup. To read more, visit their website: goldengoal.world. 

Over the years, writers from around the world have tried their hands at using soccer as a backdrop for memorable fiction. Tonally speaking, they cover a vast terrain, including J.L. Carr’s comic How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup and Leonard Gribble’s whodunit The Arsenal Stadium Mystery. Some will cut more deeply for soccer fans of a literary bent; others can be savored no matter what your feelings about the beautiful game might be. David Peace’s modernist Red or Dead, about the life of the legendary Liverpool coach Bill Shankly, left me frequently breathless despite having little emotional investment in the ups and downs of Liverpool.

If that novel—a work of precisely composed prose in which Peace uses repetition and the sheer bulk of its more than 800 pages to take the reader into Shankly’s inner life and the meticulous rhythms of his squad’s play—represents one pole of how to make a great soccer novel, standing opposite it is Carlos Labbé’s 2015 The Murmuration, translated into English by Will Vanderhyden. I feel comfortable declaring that The Murmuration is the strangest novel ever written about the game of soccer. The bulk of the novel uses a real event as its setting: the 1962 World Cup semi-final between Chile and Brazil. That part of it, at least, will be familiar to longtime soccer enthusiasts. Where things get a little weirder comes when Labbé introduces psychic powers into the mix.

Click here to read more about this awesome book. 

I see in my system, this book is on Hoopla only, so you might have to add a physical copy to your collections, but as I have said many times, you need to make your display in the building and online. This is a greta opportunity to build lists for people to access books via Hoopla and Libby as well as int he building. Please add QR codes to those digital lists to your physical displays.

Now here are trusted humans created lists of more soccer books for your World Cup displays:

• Goodreads lists tagged soccer (all genres and nonfiction included)
• Well-written books about soccer-- Reddit
• Fiction books about footballers (soccer)-- Reddit
• Books about football/soccer-- Reddit
• For the Love of the Game: Soccer Books--Chicago Public Library Staff Created List
• use your closest big city library's catalog to find more like this. 
• 23 Books All Soccer Fans Should Read -- BuzzFeed

There is overlap here, but also plenty of titles to fill out a small World Cup themed display. Also bonus points if you can get your library to allow you to make a display that uses the whole collection, media, and even allows books for all ages in one place near the front of your library. Here is a post where I help you have resources to argue for "Inter-Generational" displays.

Another Great Summer Reading Program Idea That You Need to Save and Use Anytime of Year via LitHub

This year I have been posting about non library summer reading programs for adults for a variety of reasons. 

First, I know your summer reading programs are already in full swing, but while something is happening it is actually the best time to gather information and learn from others doing the same thing.

Second, many of you still do not have adult reading programs even though you should. I wrote about this at length a few weeks ago here. Please go back and read that. The important parts are bolded. The fact that non-library places are doing them, spending money to create them, giving prizes....all of this should make you both realize it is something you should be doing and also, it should make you mad that they are filling a hole you could have filled much more easily. We are losing readers to places like the NYT and LitHub

Third, these non-library summer reading programs are the right kind of gate opening programs. Why does that matter? Well our summer reading programs, in fact most of what we do for adults, has way too many rules and barriers. Why does a grown ass person have to follow themes and/or number of minutes reading in order to participate in the joy of summer reading? Why do we gate keep reading for adults? Their lives are busy enough and just the fact that they want to use a summer reading program as a reason to read more should be enough. 

I need to say this to all of you-- just because your library uses a theme for summer reading and just because the kid's program has a bunch of rules does not mean you have to do the exact same thing. Too many rules and too many restrictions will drive your patrons away. And, mostly importantly, YOU WILL NOT GO TO LIBRARY JAIL IF YOU ALLOW ADULTS TO READS WHAT THEY WANT. 

In fact, just the opposite, if you increase circulation, participation, and door count of adults during the summer, you will be celebrated and praised for it. 

Now, if your library requires you use the theme, that's fine. Mine did back in the day. So you know what I did? I used the branded material and then told my adults, here is the theme; here is a list of titles you can read it you want to fit the theme; but also, just log the books your read whatever they were. They all count. 

The adult summer reading programs I am reposting here, from these non library spaces, understand all of this better than most of you. Again, I wrote about the NYT summer reading program here. Today I want to point you to an even better program, one that you can insert into your current summer reading programs seamlessly, right now. It is from LitHub. Here is their summer reading program with challenges we can use anytime.

Talk about gate opening. These are lists of 10 books that come out every 2 weeks, and they suggest you pick just one to read in that time frame. The themes they have created are very flexible and fun:

• Great Classic Novels Under 200 Pages
• The Best Contemporary Novels Under 200 pages
• The 60 Best Campus Novels from the Last 100 Years
• The Greatest Coming of Age Novels
• The Greatest Summer Novels of All Time
• The 50 Best Contemporary Novels Over 500 pages

They even created this FREE graphic for people to fill out as they completed the challenges.

This is such a great idea for libraries to use all year long. It reminds me of my conversation starter to display concept; in fact I am adding this post to the handout for that. You could use this idea to create monthly mini displays ALL YEAR LONG. 

How would you doing this? Easy. Use the categories from this LitHub Summer Reading Program and/or the ones from the NYT Summer Reading Challenge and/or any conversation starter to display questions I have posted before.

Pick 12 themes. One for each month of the year. Make a sign with the title of the conversation starter. For example, "Best Books Under 200 Pages." And then do a small display of titles near it. Have your staff help seed the display at first, but then go here to learn how I suggest you poll all patrons to help build the list to keep it going. The questions here is "What are your favorite books under 200 pages?" These displays and the chance to allow patrons to add to the lists of titles needs to be in the building and online.

The great thing about these mini-displays with conversation starter questions is that they are evergreen. You can use them all year long or tie them to the season or indentity month. The titles you gather this year, can be entered into a document, and used the next time you do that display to get it all started. 

Start at any time. Ask staff from across the entire library, or if your library is small, from across your system to help build the lists. 

Now, I know many of you will still be making excuses are to why you cannot do this.

No space? Well it can be as small as a sign on your desk with a vertical stack of 3-5 books. As they go, you add more books.

No time? I have given you a link to enough questions to use all year long.

Don't want to do the polling patrons part for (insert reason here), just do the mini displays themselves each month. Having a rotating small themed display is a great reason for people to come back and try another book. You are giving them the prompt and they can choose a book you have picked or think up their won answer to the question to find something to read they would not have thought about without your help.

To help keep this idea going, I am going to commit to being a resource to help all of you. Every month, on the 1st of the month, (or the week day closest to it),I will post a theme you can use as well as a list of ten titles to make your display. I will also post resources for more crowdsourced titles. This way you have no excuse NOT to do at least the mini display. I will remind you to change it and give you plenty of titles to get it started.

As you get more comfortable doing these mini displays on a monthly basis, I will challenge you to grow the program, get your staff and patrons involved, and more. Let's get better at serving our adult readers together. I know it is hard to get a new habit started. We are all very busy, but I am committed to being there to help you give it a try.

Booklist's June Issue is the Spotlight on Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror (And Becky wins the Stoker)

I returned from StokerCon late last night. And well, I won a Stoker Award for Long Nonfiction and Tananarive Due won for her essay in the book. You can see al the nominees and winners here. You can watch me accept for Tananarive and myself on the video of the live stream here. Short Nonfiction was the first award of the night, after the keynote and Long Nonfiction was only a few awards later. 

Also, here is the link to my acceptance speech.

Now I have to go hide and send a million emails (only a slight exaggeration)

While I get back to it, I wanted to make sure you all know that Booklist Spotlight's SF/F/H every June and there is a lot of great information available for free-- more than just the Top 10 lists. The issue table of contents is here. I have posted the adult links below and added backlist access.

Spotlight on SF/Fantasy & Horror

• Essentials: Body Horror
• Top 10 SF/Fantasy & Horror 2026: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022
• Top 10 SF/Fantasy & Horror Debuts 2026: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022
• Writers & Readers: Reviewing Books Made Me a Better Novelist
• Top 10 SF/Fantasy & Horror on Audio 2026: 2025, 2024, 2023,

Features

• Essentials: AI and Its Potential for Good and Bad
• The Booklist Carnegie Interview Yiyun Li
• The Booklist Carnegie Interview Megha Majumdar
• Talking with Tillie Walden
• Trade Secrets: Updates on the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Disabled
• High-Demand Hot List

It's StokerCon Time and I Have Librarians' Day Resources and Links to Watch the Bram Stoker Awards

 

By the time this posts, I will have been in Pittsburgh for two days for Stoker Con, but today is Librarians' Day which I coordinate with my HWA Libraries Co-Chair, Konrad Stump. Click here for the full schedule. We have a lot of great panels. 

This is a live in-person event on Friday June 5, 2026 from 8am-4 pm within the full StokerCon. Anyone with a StokerCon ticket is welcome to come and enjoy our programming but Library Workers are invited to come to just the LD programming and check out our Dealer's Room, the Mass Author Signing, and the Final Frame Film Competition for only $70. 

Konrad and I have made a conscious effort to make this day useful to ALL attendees of StokerCon, but we also use it as a way to introduce library workers to what we offer. Many of our Librarians' Day only attendees have come to enjoy it so much that they attend the full conference each year. 

We expect over 125-50 people in the room at its highest point -- during the popular Buzzing panel which concludes with an ARC giveaway. Konrad has secured over 1,300 ARCs for this. Thank you to all the publishers.

Again, please click through to see the full list of panels, because even if you are an author, we have some of the best panels of the day. 

This year I also have a link to the folder with all of our slides and resources. And, the QR code will be on every slide throughout the day as well. There is a lot of great information here, even for those of you who are NOT joining us. 

Click here to access that folder. Also, save the link because there is a folder there where we will be uploading photos as well.

I do want to draw the attention to everyone reading this to our Get Involved with HWA Libraries Google Form. We are gathering names and emails because this fall we will be starting an official newsletter. We also are reworking the entire HWA website and the Library Committee portion of that will be part of that as well. 

After I collapse tonight night (after the Final Frame Film Competition), I have a couple of panels on Saturday, and then the next time people evil see me in person and on the YouTube Live stream is at the Bram Stoker Awards Ceremony. 

This is free for anyone, anywhere to watch. Not only is WHY I LOVE HORROR a nominee for Long Nonfiction, three of the essays from the book-- by Cynthia Pelayo, Tananarive Due, and Stephen Graham Jones-- are up for Short Nonfiction. If Tananarive or SGJ win, I will be accepting for them. And, many of the authors in my book are nominated across the ballot, some alongside each other int he same categories. 

I am also honored and excited to give the speech introducing our Karen Lansdale Silver Hammer Volunteer of the Year, author and librarian, Sarah Read. 

As directed by the BSA awards show manager (Brian Matthews), I also have an acceptance speech ready if I win, but honestly, to be nominated by my fellow writers is truly a huge honor, something I could not have imagined. It will be a great time. And I bought a new dress!

The entire event is worth watching. It is Horror prom. It is a feel good event celebrating the entire genre. And, at the end of the ceremony, we will be announcing some of the 2027 Guests of Honor. And the names are GOOD! The live stream link is available now for you to set a reminder. Hope some of you see me there.

What I'm Reading Booklist June 2026 Issue

I have 2 reviews in the June 2026 issue of Booklist. As usual, these posts contain my draft review with bonus appeal into and more readalikes.

Reliquary

By Hannah F. Whitten

Aug. 2026. 432p. Run For It, $30  (9780316579537). 
First published June 1, 2026 (Booklist).

Best-selling fantasy writer, Whitten, dives head first into Horror with a compelling, unsettling, and entertaining sea monster tale. When she was a teen, an accident at sea killed Claire’s parents and younger sister, but she has found comfort with her fiance Elias, that is, until he drops dead at work. When his mother contacts Claire and invites her to their ancestral home, a castle built into the cliff of an island in Maine, for a funeral, she accepts. As Claire enters the home and descends into its living spaces, deep underground, it begins to feel like there is something much more nefarious planned. Claire’s repressed emotions and memories add a level of disorientation to the story, but as more secrets are revealed, the pressure builds, the force breaks everything open, and the terrifying truth floods all that stands in its way. A novel not just for fans of sea soaked dark fantasy and horror, but also for readers of Gothics with immersive settings and intense dread like Mexican Gothic by Moreno-Garcia and tales of the monsters behind the business success of the uber rich like Fiend by Katsu.

Three Words The Describe This Book: Sea Soaked Horror, Gothic, Intense Unease

Further Appeal: horror about the uber wealthy, rich families with a monster secret to their success, an unreliable narrator who knows they are unreliable because of past trauma, Lovecraftian, disorientation-- the entire house is built down into the water. That was cool and makes everything about this Gothic mansion on the seaside feel even more unsettling. Readers and Claire are disoriented from the start.

Solid pacing– details revealed slowly but steadily and in a realistic way.

Title is good (a container for holy relics- to secure them from public viewing) because it hits on a few levels within the story Whitten is telling.

Whitten is a Best Selling author for her fantasy books. This is a Horror title that will definitely appeal to dark fantasy readers, but it is Horror so that needs to be made clear to readers.

While I was reading this I was also am writing my LJ Horror Genre Preview, and "seas soaked horror" is one of my trends. As I went through the books coming out over the next few months, there are a lot. I am excited because the books are literally dripping with dread and fear and it is great for readers. 

Claire is a damaged and unreliable narrator from the start. We know she lived through an accident as a teen-- on a boat-- that killed her whole family. We know that she lives her life purposely pushing her feelings down and not revealing the truth even to herself let alone her therapist. This she tells us. That means as readers we are already uncomfortable and know we cannot trust her but Claire is also very sympathetic because our distrust is not based on her nefarious behavior. We trust she will share her truth as the story goes on.

We only have Claire's perspective on all of this. We know as much as her, but we don't know what she is hiding from herself.

And the sharing is well done here. The details we are given, all begin to matter and as Claire admits to herself her connection to the sea the other parts of the story start to fall into place.

Her fiancé dies and she is called to meet his parents-- uber wealthy for generations. They have a submarine company. It is well known. She has not met them, but they want her to come to have a funeral for Elias. He dies mysteriously, just dropped dead, and his brain was full of holes the doctors said. Also his strange large sea creature in their giant aquarium died as well.

When she gets there things are strange. She is led into a castle built on an island (where the road to get their retracts when not needed). It is perched on the end of the sea but the house is built down....so all of the living spaces are under the waterline. 

The staff are odd, they have strange scars and injuries, and they are rarely seen.

Everyone is being very nice, but also strange. Elias' brother-- who shirked his responsibilities to the family and made Elias take his place, and the spaces of the other siblings all are trying to get her to leave of her own volition. But she is happy to be accepted, even if they are weird, and wants to belong. 

The scene is set perfectly to go from uneasy and disorienting to all out terror and a desperate attempt for her to save herself. And this is all at the start.

The monster, its hold on the family, and the resolution are all satisfying. The terror is mixed with some sweetness and Claire's background and issues from thought out her life all play a part in the conclusion which I appreciated.

Whitten's story is solid and it will bring a lot of her fans to Horror. That makes me excited.

Readalikes: I picked two for the review above, but there are definitely more. For readers who love sea monster stories in the vein of the EXCELLENT upcoming A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-young.

But also the confusion and disorientation of a family that clearly has a monstrous secret and they want the MC to pay a physical price for them like in Midnight Rooms by Coles or even Now You're One of Us by Nonami. And finally, I could not stop thinking about Alma Katsu's Fiend (mentioned above) and the demon behind the immense wealth and success of the family featured there.

Lovecraft’s Brood: Nineteen Tales of Cosmic Horror

Ed. Ellen Datlow

July 2026. 302p. illus. Tachyon, paper, $18.95  (9781616964627). 
REVIEW. First published June 1, 2026 (Booklist).

Completing the duology she began with Lovecraft’s Monsters, award-winning editor Datlow is back with 19 previously published stories, all from this century*. An impressive list of authors focus their talents on cosmic fear as Lovecraft defined it– an immersive, existential dread, steeped in the realization that the universe is indifferent to our suffering. The range of stories includes those firmly grounded in reality such as Paul Tremblay’s “The Note,” where a neighborhood walk leads to a wife’s disappearance; to a tale caught in the space between realities– the roadside motel– as in Wendy Wagner’s “Halogen Sky;” to a tear in the fabric of reality, caused by a kitten, in T Kingfisher’s “Agent of Chaos.” Each story begins with an illustration by John Coulthart, perfectly capturing the appeal of the story to come. A great choice for longtime Lovecraftian Horror fans and newcomers alike, yes, but this volume will also lure readers in with the promise of a tale by a beloved author, as they exit having discovered a few new favorites along the way.

*This is always important to point out in these Lovecraft anthos. We want to be clear these are TODAY’S voices.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Cosmic Dread, anthology, madness

Further Appeal: John Coulthart -- illustrations-- the illustrations before each story are a nice touch. They are like an interpretational drawing to summarize the story. Not just the plot but the appelr as well. This is a very nice touch.

This is the second in a dulology. The first was Lovecraft's Monsters which focused on exactly that-- monsters from his mythos. But here, we have 19 previously published stories-- all from the 21st Century-- but names you know well, some a little, a some, not at all. This time, focusing on cosmic fear as Lovecraft defined it and then showcased in his works. 

Datlow's introduction plainly and clearly defines this Lovecraftian brand of fear that leads to madness, all steeped in the realization that the universe is indifferent to humanity and that the human mind cannot comprehend the truths that make the vastness of the universe tick, that to peer behind the veil of our perceived reality will break you-- your mind and body.

These are Cosmic stories. They plant their profound dread into the reader's body. Existential terror grows out from our guts and infects our minds.

Too often "Lovecraftian" stories or anthologies don't explain in plain terms what is going on, what the intention of this work is. There is a bar to entry for novices when it comes to all things "Lovecraftian." It keeps new comers out. This anthology welcomes them in and paired with the first one-- Lovecraft's Monsters it serves as a great introduction to Lovecraft's legacy.

Some of my favorite stories are "The Note" by Paul Tremblay where a couple goes on a walk, the wife reads the note on a neighborhood door, and then the next day disappears. It is told from that point on as the husband (a Tremblay stand in) suffers from not knowing what happened and what the note even said.

Wendy Wagner has a great take on the weird roadside hotel off the interstate trope

But one of the shortest is also my favorite. It is by T Kingfisher entitled "Agent of Chaos." and it is best set up by its perfect first sentence, "It was a blustery day in November when the kitten accidentally ripped open the fabric of reality." Just read it.

Readalikes: Read the first anthology as well and search out work by the people in the top here. Any Datlow anthology is a great readalike. 

There are plenty of titles that capture the spirit of Lovecraft but are by 21st Century writers who are aware of the problems with the man and actively engage with that in their stories. Growing Things by Tremblay, Stories from the Motel Sick by Michael Allen Rose– very much the same vibe. In the Mad Mountains: Stories Inspired By H. P. Lovecraft by Joe Lansdale as well.